University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
UMBC
UNC Explodes In Second Half To Run Past Retrievers
April 16, 2005 | Men's Lacrosse
April 16, 2005
BALTIMORE, MD. - The University of North Carolina men's lacrosse team got four second-half goals from senior attackman Mike McCall and a record-setting performance in the goal by senior Paul Spellman as the Tar Heels spoiled the unveiling of the new artificial surface at UMBC Stadium with a dominating second half performance in an 11-5 victory over the Retrievers in a non-conference contest Saturday afternoon.
Carolina improved to 4-7 with the victory as it kept alive its hopes for a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Retrievers fell to 5-6 with the loss. The win was the first by the Tar Heels over UMBC in Baltimore since the 1987 season.
Paul Spellman made 15 saves in the game while allowing only five goals in leading an outstanding UNC defensive effort. Spellman's 15 saves ran his career total to 642 and his performance Saturday allowed him to establish the Tar Heel record for career saves as he broke the old mark of 629 saves record by Tom Sears from 1980-83.
Tar Heel senior attackman Jed Prossner scored three goals in the match, running his career total to 110 and moving him into third place all-time in career goal scoring at Carolina. Prossner moved past both John Webster (109 career goals) and Dennis Goldstein (108) with his three goals Saturday. He now trails only Bert Fett with 128 and Mac Ford with 111 on the career list. Prossner's six points on Saturday ran his career point total to 167, moving him into sole possession of eighth place in career points at Carolina. Mac Ford is seventh on the list with 172.
Senior Mike McCall had his four goals in the game all in the second half and they ran his team-leading season total to 28. McCall has now totaled 97 career goals and on Saturday he moved past Jason Wade (1993-96) into 10th place on the Tar Heels' all-time goal scoring chart. Chase Martin ranks ninth with 98 and Harper Peterson eighth with 99.
UMBC had won the last three meetings between the two squads in Baltimore in 1999, 2001 and 2003 by a combined total of four goals and it appeared the 2005 match-up would follow the same script. Neither team took more than a one goal lead in the first half and the first 30 minutes would up deadlocked at 3-all.
UMBC's Brendan Mundorf opened the scoring with a little over 10 minutes remaining in the opening period and the Retrievers held that lead for over six minutes until unassisted goals by Nick Tintle and Jed Prossner in a span of 1:23 late in the quarter put the Tar Heels up 2-1 at the end of the quarter.
The Retrievers regained the lead by scoring the opening two goals of the second quarter. Andy Gallagher tallied an extra-man goal off an assist by Drew Westervelt with exactly 11 minutes left in the period and then 1:39 later Westervelt scored his own goal, this time assisted by Munford, to put UMBC up 3-2. But Nick Tintle scored his second goal of the first half at the 5:42 mark to forge a 3-3 tie at halftime. The freshman midfielder from Levittown, N.Y. had his best offensive game of the season with two goals and an assist.
The teams again exchanged goals to start the third quarter, as Retriever junior midfielder Andy Gallagher answered UNC senior attackman Jed Prossner's initial second half marker with an unassisted score with 9:59 left in the third quarter.
But the Tar Heels, facing elimination from the post-season with a loss, countered with five straight goals, holding UMBC off the board for over 16 minutes. Prossner got the go-ahead score, his third of the day, at the 7:41 mark with an assist by Tintle. The Tar Heels then forged the first two-goal lead by either team when freshman midfielder Rob Driscoll scored his fifth goal of the season, taking an assist from midfielder Kyle Henderson, at the 3:02 mark of the third period. Just 50 seconds later, Prossner fed linemate Mike McCall at 2:12 to give the Tar Heels a 7-4 lead after three quarters.
It was the start of a huge second half for McCall, who went on to score three goals in the fourth quarter. The Tar Heels scored the opening two goals of the final period to increase their scoring run to five. With 13:49 to play in the game, McCall scored his second goal off an assist by Prossner and then at the 11:01 mark UNC's lead grew to 9-4 as Ryan Blair took a pass from rope man Billy Staines and converted for a score.
UMBC freshman attackman Nick Fatseas broke the drought by converting a Brendan Mundorf pass on an extra-man situation at the 8:45 mark of the final quarter. But McCall ended any hopes of a rally as he beat UMBC netminder Kevin Cepelak on a one-on-one situation after receiving a long downfield clearing pass from his own goalkeeper Paul Spellman with 3:28 to play in the game. McCall took one final feed from Prossner for the final goal of the game to extend the lead to 11-5 with 2:13 to play.
Prossner led all scorers with three goals and three assists and the senior attackman also had his careeer high for ground balls in a game with nine, while McCall totaled four goals. Freshman midfielder Nick Tintle added two goals for the Tar Heels.
Mundorf led UMBC with a goal and two assists, Gallagher posted a pair of goals and sophomore attackman Drew Westervelt had a goal and a helper.
Shots (13-all) and ground balls (18-all) were even at intermission, but UNC outshot the Retrievers, 28-17, in the second half and won the ground ball battle, 28-16 over the final 30 minutes. Spellman and Cepelak were both outstanding for their respective squads, as the former made 15 saves for UNC, while Cepelak, one of 10 seniors making their final home regular season appearance, stopped a season-high 18 shots.
The game was played on UMBC's new Momentum 51 artificial turf. The Retrievers had played two home games off campus and the last three on the grass surface of UMBC Soccer Stadium.
The Tar Heels return to action when they travel to Hamilton, N.Y. next Wednesday to play the Colgate Red Raiders at 7 p.m. in a game to be telecast by CSTV.
North Carolina...... 2 1 4 4 - 11
UMBC................ 1 2 1 1 - 5
North Carolina SCORING: GOALS: Mike McCall 4; Jed Prossner 3; Nick Tintle 2; Rob Driscoll 1; Ryan Blair 1. ASSISTS: Jed Prossner 3; Kyle Henderson 1; Paul Spellman 1; Billy Staines 1; Nick Tintle 1. UMBC SCORING: GOALS: Andy Gallagher 2; Brendan Mundorf 1; Drew Westervel 1; Nick Fatseas 1. ASSISTS: Brendan Mundorf 2; Drew Westerverlt 1.
Shots by period 1 2 3 4 Tot
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North Carolina...... 6 6 15 13 - 40
UMBC................ 7 7 7 10 - 31
Ground balls by prd 1 2 3 4 Tot
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North Carolina...... 11 7 12 16 - 46
UMBC................ 9 9 8 8 - 34
Face-offs by prd 1 2 3 4 Total
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North Carolina...... 2-4 1-4 3-5 3-6 - 9-19
UMBC................ 2-4 3-4 2-5 3-6 - 10-19
Clears by period 1 2 3 4 Total
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North Carolina...... 3-3 4-4 4-4 8-9 - 19-20
UMBC................ 2-3 4-6 4-6 4-7 - 14-22
Extra-man opps 1 2 3 4 Total
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North Carolina...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-2 - 0-3
UMBC................ 0-1 1-2 0-0 1-1 - 2-4
Saves by period 1 2 3 4 Tot
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North Carolina...... 4 2 2 7 - 15 (Paul Spellman)
UMBC................ 3 4 6 5 - 18 (Kevin Cepelak)
Turnovers by prd 1 2 3 4 Tot
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North Carolina...... 2 2 3 4 - 11
UMBC................ 3 6 7 4 - 20
PENALTIES - NC 4/3:30; UMBC 3/2:00.
